40,000 worshippers attend Friday prayer at the Aqsa Mosque
Tens of thousands of Palestinians performed Friday prayer at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite obstacles set up by Zionist regime’s occupation forces around the Old City of occupied Al-Quds and the Mosque itself.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem reported that 40,000 worshippers participated in the Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa, as well as funeral prayers in absentia for the souls of martyrs from Gaza and the West Bank.
Occupation forces arrested Sheikh Iyad Al-Abbasi, Al-Aqsa’s Friday preacher and Chief Judge of Al-Quds, as he exited from Bab al-Silsila, one of the Mosque’s gates, following his sermon which included references to Gaza. He was later released after being threatened not to speak about Gaza again.
Zionist regime’s police persist in harassing the Aqsa preachers. Last Friday, Zionist regime’s police forces arrested the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, after his Friday sermon. He was later released but banned from entering the Mosque for a week, subject to renewal.
In a related incident, the occupation forces expelled Al-Quds activist Nitham Abu Rummouz from the Old City and prevented him from performing Friday prayer at Bab al-Asbat (Lion’s Gate).
Many young men around the Old City were detained, had their IDs checked, and others were prevented from accessing the Aqsa Mosque for prayer.